Just a note. I'm using the Japanese names for the Gold/Silver Pokemon. Even though by the time this is completed, GS will have been out for some time, and all the names will have been released, I prefer the official Japanese ones to names that may change later on.
Also, the Kanpusu tribe was created by me, as was the language. If such a tribe actually exists and uses those words, then it's one hell of a coincidence, and/or I ought to be praised for my psychic powers! Aricone is not a real town to my knowledge. And all the characters with the exception of any mentioned Pokemon are mine, and no one else's. The Pokemon . . . well, you know who they belong to.
Salvation
Chapter 1
Calmar casually brushed a leafy branch aside from his path, his aide, Padda, following quickly behind him. The walk was standard for them both now, the casual daily walk through section 2A of the Hitok Pokemon Preserve.
Brushing aside a buzzing mosquito, Padda began to write notes on the notepadhe carried. "Butterfree nest #3: 10 occupants." "Sandshrew fill #5: 6 holes." And so on, and so forth. Padda had only had been on the job at Hitok for two months, and was more than a little determined to be a good aide to Calmar and keep that job. He certainly enjoyed it.
Something caught their attention simultaneously, and they ran to it. In the middle of the path lay something large and bright red, blocking the way.
What the--?" Calmar bit off a curse as he bent down beside it to take a closer look. "Pidgeot," he muttered. The chest had been ripped open, feathers were scattered everywhere, and the red blood stained the body and ground, not quite dry. Calmar touched it gently, and instantly jerked his hand back.
"What is it?" asked Padda, fighting hard not to be sick right there and then. Surely an aide must have to get used to seeing such thing, right?
Calmar shook his hand to the side as if to shake off pain. "Electrical energy," he answered. "A shock must have brought this thing down."
"A Pikachu? Could have been looking for food," Padda suggested.
Calmar shook his head. "Pikachu are herbivores. And there's too much energy buildup here for an ordinary Pikachu to have discharged at once."
"Then what --?" asked Padda, more to himself than to Calmar.
Calmar answered anyway. "We'd know if there were any Zapdos nests here, but the closest one is in Zenig," he said, naming the second of the three sister Pokemon Preserves. "There's no water here for a Raantaan, and there aren't any tracks to indicate Mokoko or denryuu." He shook his head. "I just don't know what could have caused this."
He straightened and pulled out a remote two-way radio. "Ranger Calmar to Base. Repeat, this is Ranger Calmar calling Base."
It took a few seconds for the reply to come. "Base here, Calmar. Anything to report?" Calmar relayed the situation to base, while Padda just looked at the body of the Pidgeot. "Roger that," came the reply through the small radio. "Fadden reported the same thing with a Mirutanku not ten minutes ago. Better come back in so we can send out the Hunters to find this thing."
Padda was more than surprised. He'd been there long enough to know that the Hunters were only used for capturing extremely wild and dangerous Pokemon, and hadn't been used in at least ten years. This must be more extreme than he'd thought.
"Copy. Over and out." Calmar put the two-way back in his pocket and turned away from the mutilated body. "Let's g, Padda."
The two walked swiftly and silently off back the way they came, completely unaware of the two eyes watching them from the darkness of the trees.
"Reports indicate that more severe storms will be hitting the coast town or Aricone. Citizens are advised to prepare in the same way as before, and to stay in or near their homes at all times."
Dr Salenza turned off the television and sighed. Time to fasten the upstairs shutters again. These storms were just getting worse and worse as the month went on. True, he had just moved to Aricone a few weeks ago, but storms this severe and this frequent just weren't normal for any part of the world.
Getting up from his chair, he went to the window and looked out at the nearby ocean. Clouds in the distance were already black, and flashing with lightning. No, not normal at all.
Suddenly, a strange urge came over him. An urge to leave the house. Not knowing how to explain away how he felt, he grabbed his coat and hat and went outside. He was always one to follow his instincts.
He walked for five minutes before he reached a ledge overlooking the water, fenced off at the edge to prevent people from falling off. Salenze leant on the top bar and stared out at the churning waters of the ocean below.
He wasn't aware of the first raindrops falling, nor was he even consciously aware of the waters become more and more violent. He lost himself in the deepness of the ocean, staring at one spot as if nothing else mattered.
He remained like that until he felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking up, he noticed finally the torrents of rain, the raging winds, and the thunder and lightning directly overhead. A man in a yellow raincoat and hat was looking at him strangely.
"Sir," said the man. "Sir, you have to get inside fast. The storm's here!" He was clearly shouting, but his voice could barely be heard amid the storm's own noises.
Salenza nodded and reluctantly turned away from his sopt by the ledge. It was a bad storm, he noted as he walked away, dripping wet. Just as had been predicted.
A pair of almost invisible eyes from the churning waters watched him leave.
Pa'kira was taller, faster and stronger than the other children of the newly discovered Kanpusu tribe, but she still joined in the other childrens' games.
At least, she did when they let her.
Because she was not from that tribe, her pale skin and eyes marked her as the freak, and the one to be avoided. As such, she would never lose the childish 'pa' in front of her name, and move on to being an woman. She would be a child until the day of her death. Some part of her knew that, and some part of her didn't really care. She was who she was, and it was meant to be that way.
Today, though, the children of the tribe didn't want her in their games. She was too good for them, and they all knew it. But today, perhaps they'd change and let her in.
Grinning and whispering, the younger children gathered in a circle and talked among themselves as Pa'kira stood on the outside, waiting patiently. Eventually, the mass seperated, and they all smiled at her. "Kayi! Kayi!" they said, meaning "Join us."
Pa'kira smiled back and ran to them, happy to not have to force her way into their play today, as she'd done so many times before. One of the children touched her arm, and then they scattered. Now was the time her skills shone. She could chase them faster than they could run, and she'd win the game.
She chased the nearest one to her, but he was faster than he looked, and dodged out of the way of her hand. Laughing, she ran to another, who laughed at her as he climbed a nearby tree.
Pa'kira stopped at the tree and looked up to where the boy sat in the leafy branches. "Kei! Kei!" she called up to him, calling him a cheater.
He laughed again at her, but wouldn't move from his branch. Pa'kira tried to ignore the other children who were running up close to her and lightly slapping her arms, a mockery to how she wasn't playing the game they'd let her join.
But soon, those light slaps turned harder and more painful, and Pa'kira couldn't help but turn to them to shout! As she did so, she recieved a sharp slap to the face. "Mendo!" she shouted at them, wanting them to stop, but it made no difference. The slaps turned to hard blows, punches and kicks. She had no choice but to run.
It was hard to get past the children surrounding her, but she eventually made her way out, running deep into the jungle area that surrounded the Kanpusu territory. An escape. That's all she cared about. Getting away from all those cruel blows.
The light began to fade as she ran deeped and deeper into the surrounding lands, and strange animal noises seemed to follow her, but she didn't care. Eventually tiring, she stopped running and sat down on the ground. Her calloused bare feet were sore from running, and bruises were already starting to worm on her arms and legs. She couldn't see the condition of her face, but it hurt, and that was enough for her.
It was a few minutes before she bothered to look around at her location. She had gone further into the jungle than she'd ever been in her life, and she didn't recognise any land-signs around her. She mentally cursed herself for not paying attention to where she had been running. She hadn't even followed any specific trail!
But it was too late to worry about where'd she'd been going now. All that mattered was trying to find her way back.
She'd walked until the sun had almost set before she realised that she wouldn't be able to find Kanpusu again for a long time.
Still, she didn't stop walking, even when the sun had fallen completely, and the full moon was all that lit her way. She was used to walking at night, and knew how to protect herself from whatever wild animals and Pokemon lived out there. Of course, she knew no distiction between the two aside from the fact that some Pokemon could use magical attacks, given to them by the Gods. They were all 'yebo' to her.
Then she noticed that the ground was sloping up, and the air was much hotter and harder to breathe than before. "Kimyo," she whispered. 'Strange'
Within a short time she saw what was creating such strange changes in the air. She'd come across a wide bowl of a red liquid, one she didn't dare to touch for fear of the heat. She could barely stand being near it, it was so hot. The liquid bubbled and glowed a bright red in the moonlight.
Without warning, the liquid exploded in a hot burst, moving upward and falling down in large drops. Pa'kira shouted and jumped back as far as she could, fearful that one of the drops may touch her. She didn't know what this stuff would do to her, and she didn't want to know.
When she was out of range of the drops, she looked back at the glowing red stream that was still shooting into the sky. From the center, two glowing eyes, brighter than the hot liquid itself, stared back at her without blinking. Her own eyes widened in fear! What was that! A demon that could stand the heat that she couldn't?!
A deafening roar filled the air, and birds flew away from the tree branches in fright. Pa'kira was happy to join them! She ran off into the deep woods, her throat too tight to even scream, not daring to look back at the two red eyes she knew followed her as she went.